Four years after
World Cup heroics against
South Africa, Japan’s players must play the game of their lives to upset Ireland
Shizuoka is best known as Japan’s biggest producer of green tea. As the Brave Blossoms prepare to take on
Ireland at the Pacific coast venue on Saturday, the hosts and their supporters may not like what the matcha leaves are telling them.
Jamie Joseph’s side will have needed every day of their generous seven-day turnaround to prepare for a clash that will require a repeat of their 2015 heroics against the Springboks if they are to avoid becoming sacrificial lambs in Ireland’s unstoppable rise to the top of Pool A.